I had been solar observing and drawing all day but Copernicus really looked so good I had tohave a go. Got a bit tired toward 11pm local time so stopped drawing.I have a tendency to wander into surrounding areas a habit that is difficultto break. One to capture another time, so nice to draw in the heat of anevening more comfy than the middle of winter.

The way I see astronomical drawing is this, if I do not finish the sketch at the eyepiece it never gets finished at all.

In my opinion astronomical sketching is about learning.
Learning about the features you are drawing and learning how to go about it in the best possible manner with the most suitable materials.

Finishing a astronomical sketch later , inside would mean nothing to me. I feel it is important to take in what you can at the eyepiece. If a sketch does not get finished for whatever reason , you have at least learned something to bring to the effort the next time.

If you finish it later with photographs et cetra what use is that ?

The object you observe be it the moon or some other wonder forges a connection with your eye to the page.
Different lighting , seeing conditions et cetra bring changing challenges to spice up the interest.

My sketch of Copernicus is unfinished as I did not get to grips with the crater walls in a way that I would have liked.
I began to get a handle on doing the mare floor so what I learned about doing that will follow through to the next sketch.

The view was expansive so I tended to try to take in the whole area that takes away from just doing Copernicus by itself.

Dee, I was not thinking about finishing inside, but at the eyepiece. But it occurred to me afterwards that you can indeed not continue your sketch. Here is a difference with a deep-sky sketch. A deep-sky sketch can be made on consecutive nights of observing, because the target does not alter. You could wait for the next lunation, but the libration of the moon will change the scene too much.

Yes Rony , each moon sketch is really a once off , one shot effort ,never ever to be repeated with exactly the same lighting , seeing conditions , personal focus, mood , energy , all combining to make the sketch. So for me it is important to learn something about the moon and something about drawing each time. Thanks Tommy as well.Dee